Norton Family - June 2006

New Mission:Space - Mini Trip Report: June 12, 2006

Greetings from FL. Kids and I went to Epcot today and we tried out the new version of Mission:Space--it doesn't spin. What a huge difference! I am susceptible to motion sickness and usually could only ride MS with an empty stomach, Dramamine, and no caffeine. We hopped on it at 5:45pm this afternoon with absolutely NO WAIT. (Soarin and Test Track were both 70 minutes, and even the Maelstorm had a 30 minute wait and there was a line at El Rio de Tiempo--and it wasn't raining either).

Anyways they have changed the entrance area and there are CMs out front passing out a "ticket", either orange or green. There are many descriptions of the rides too and the differences (I took tons of pics and will have them ready once I get to a DSL connection). You select whether or not you want the traditional ride and take an Orange (spinning ride) or Green ticket up to the loading area. Walk through your appropriate queue and line up as normal. Boarding as normal. The pre-show has been changed slightly with the same launch controller but she now has a new spiel about the milder ride.

The actual ride still has a launch and you feel the G forces, but your skin doesn't fall back off your face. The bumps are rather mild and it is smoother than StarTours or Body Wars. The biggest difference in the ride is at the end--there is no force on the joystick.

When I got off the ride I had absolutely no need to sit down for a while or have something to eat to sop up my normally woozy stomach. No dizziness or lightheadness; no problems whatsoever. My kids thought it was good too. They say they prefer the more intense version but I'm done with that one.

Kudos to Disney for *finally* modifying this attraction so that just about everyone can enjoy it. However I think the ride has had so much bad press that folks were just avoiding it. With the 70 minute waits for Soarin and TT, I think MS should not have been a walk-on. If you can do Star Tours then you should have no problems with the milder version of MS. (Of course your mileage may vary...)